Wellbeing Support for Extensions, Mitigation and Deferrals

There are times when studying is not easy. You may be studying with a long-term health condition or disability, dealing with an unexpected and serious situation or be supporting someone else. The University of Exeter’s Mitigation Policy supports students to request extensions or deferrals on assignments or assessments in these situations.

There are different options available to support you in managing your assignments if you are unable to submit them on their due date.

To apply for mitigation support through Wellbeing Services, please read the information below and complete the Mitigation Support Request Form.

Before you apply

Before you decide to apply for mitigation, please read the guidance here, and we strongly encourage you to consider talking to:

Your academic tutor
Your academic hub/info point
The Students' Guild/Union Advice teams
The Education Welfare Advisor for your academic Hub

The mitigation process is designed to support you, but you will also need to think about the impact of delaying assessments or exams.

These contacts will be able to advise on the best options, and consider any broader steps to support your studies.

Supporting Evidence

To apply for mitigation, you may need supporting evidence. A range of people and places can provide supporting evidence including:

Academic Tutors
a GP, an NHS or private specialist doctor
NHS Support Service (e.g. TalkWorks or Community Mental Health Team)
Education Welfare Advisors
Wellbeing Services

The following FAQs will help you identify the best place to seek supporting evidence for your mitigation application.

Do I have to provide supporting evidence for an extension or deferral?

You do not always have to provide supporting evidence.
You can have an evidence-free extension of 72 hours (3 days) for coursework assignments.
You can use an evidence-free extension up to 4 times over 12 months; any further extensions required after this must be applied for through the supporting-evidence based process.
You can read more about evidence-free extensions for coursework on the main Mitigation webpage.

I have an Individual Learning Plan that supports extensions, what should I do?

If you have an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) that says extension requests should be supported, you will have no limit on the number of 72-hour extensions you can use on coursework, in 12 months.
If you need a longer extension (up to two weeks), apply via the evidence-based mitigation process. You can use your ILP as evidence.
If you need longer than two weeks, you will need to apply via the evidence-based mitigation process and complete the Wellbeing Services Mitigation Evidence Request form.
A member of the Wellbeing Services team will review your request for support and either send completed supporting evidence to your Hub team, or contact you to request more information or offer additional support, where required.

I have an Individual Learning Plan but it does not support extensions, what should I do?

You can still make use of the 72-hour extensions available to all students four times every 12 months without additional supporting evidence.
If you have an ILP that does not specifically mention extensions, you will need to apply via the evidence-based mitigation process and complete the Wellbeing Services Mitigation Evidence Request form.
A member of the Wellbeing Services team will review your request and a practitioner will make contact with you, where required, to discuss both your mitigation and/or any additional support needs you may have.
Your completed supporting evidence will be sent directly to your Hub.

I had/have support from/involvement with Wellbeing Services, what should I do?

You can still make use of the 72-hour extensions available to all students four times every 12 months without supporting evidence.
If you have been receiving support from Wellbeing Services, or have in the past, Wellbeing Services may be able to support your mitigation application.
For extensions of two weeks, you will need to apply through the evidence-based mitigation process and complete the Wellbeing Services Mitigation Evidence Request form.
A member of the Wellbeing Services team will review your request and send completed supporting evidence to your Hub team or contact you to request more information or offer additional support, where required.

I have had support from the Education Welfare Team/the Health, Wellbeing and Support for Study process. What should I do?

You can still make use of the 72-hour extensions available to all students four times every 12 months without supporting evidence.
For extensions of two weeks, you will need to apply via the evidence-based mitigation process and contact your Education Welfare Advisor to request supporting evidence.
Your Education Welfare Advisor will review your request and send completed supporting evidence to your Hub team and/or contact you to request more information or offer additional support, where required.
If you are not currently receiving support from the Education Welfare team, but have done in the past, please apply via the evidence-based mitigation process and contact your Education Welfare Advisor via email to request supporting evidence.

I had/have support from/involvement with another support service, what should I do?

You can still make use of the 72-hour extensions available to all students four times every 12 months without supporting evidence.
For extensions of two weeks, you will need to apply via the evidence-based mitigation process.
The support service you have been involved with can provide supporting evidence. You will need to contact them and request they email the academic Hub mitigation team directly or write a statement for you to send to the Hub mitigation team.
Examples of support services who can provide mitigation evidence may include:
- University Community Mental Health Team (UCMHT)
- Your consultant, doctor or psychological wellbeing practitioner from an NHS service
- A private doctor
- Third Sector support services - SAFE, DRC, Together, or Talkworks for example.

I have not had support from or involvement with any support services, who can provide supporting evidence for me?

You can still make use of the 72-hour extensions available to all students four times every 12 months without supporting evidence.
For extensions of up to two weeks, you will need to apply via the evidence-based mitigation process.
For support from the Education Welfare Team, please book an initial support appointment to discuss your concerns/situation. This enables Wellbeing Services to ensure you have support in place, in addition to supporting mitigation requests, where appropriate.
You can book an appointment with your Education Welfare Team.
The University Mitigation Policy advises that when a student requires evidence for health-related circumstances lasting 7 days or fewer, but is unable to provide evidence from a GP or other support service, students can:

1. Provide evidence that they have informed their Academic Personal Tutor and the relevant Module Lead of their application and the reasons for it.
2. Provide evidence that they have informed the relevant pastoral members of staff of their application and the reasons for it, so that appropriate support can be provided. This might include Academic Personal Tutors, Welfare/Wellbeing staff, the Guild Advice Unit or the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team.

I have not spoken to anyone yet, what should I do?

If your mental or physical health or wellbeing is having an effect on your ability to study, or your studying is creating health problems for you, our helpful and experienced Education Welfare Team are available to talk to you in a confidential and non-judgemental way about any issues you may need support with.